CHICO — It all started with a little cat the Battenfields called “Mama.” By the time they met the stray, Mama was pregnant again.

“She was just one little kitty. I called and she came right up. We thought, we”ll feed her, that she must have gotten left,” said Nicolette Battenfield.

Cats and more cats

“Then, all of a sudden, we”re putting food out for her, and another cat came out, and another,” Battenfield recalled. Soon, the family was feeding Mama, her five kittens, and another grown female.

That was September 2009. The Battenfields moved into a home on The Esplanade that had been part of a complex used by a construction company. It”s on the north end of town where the city ends and the land turns to orchards and fields. There”s plenty of space for cats to roam.

“We found out there was a tomcat out there somewhere, too,” Battenfield said. “We chased him away a few times. Then, two more females showed up.”

So it went. Nicolette and her husband Josh have two daughters, Amy, 10, and Hailey, 7. They moved to the older home last year when they returned to Chico from Southern California. Josh got hurt on the job a while ago and the family decided to come back to Chico where he has family.

“For a while we thought this isn”t that bad,” said Nicolette Battenfield. “They get rodents and such and we have no problems with squirrels.”

When Mama delivered her second batch of kittens, and another female cat did the same, the Battenfields began to wonder what they had gotten themselves into. They were buying about four bags of cat food a week.

Getting help

Battenfield contacted Chico Cat Coalition for help but learned the group has no resources to help people with cat problems.

The coalition was formed to deal with feral cats in Bidwell Park. It had obtained use of a barn on private property to house cats, and through the years, reached maximum capacity. Some of the cats will never be tamed for adoption. Other cats housed in separate quarters at the barn are ill with disease and can”t be adopted.

Battenfield was referred to PAWS of Chico Spay Neuter Program, an organization that provides eligible pet owners with vouchers to spay or neuter their pets. PAWS of Chico also steps forward when people are dealing with feral cats, such as those found along Comanche Creek, Christi Lane off Cohasset Road, behind the former Grocery Outlet on East Park Avenue and the store in Forest Ranch.

Cynthia Gerrie, PAWS of Chico executive director, said she talks to people in Nicolette Battenfield”s position at least twice a month. Besides helping with costs of fixing pets, the organization offers free humane traps to capture them.

With Gerrie”s coaching, Battenfield has trapped 22 cats around her home, had them fixed and delivered them to Butte Humane Society for adoption. By using PAW”s vouchers, those cats were fixed by Mill Creek Veterinary in Los Molinos, a vet that agreed to perform reduced cost operations.

Gerrie said PAWS sends people to vets outside Chico, because they are less expensive. Chico vets charge around $100 and $50 respectively for a spay and neuter, compared to $55 and $35 elsewhere. Battenfield said her share of the cost has been about $10 per cat.

But there”s more than the cost of spay or neuter. Because they have had little human interaction, feral cats are skittish around people; some are almost impossible to catch. It requires patience and time to finally get a wily cat into a cage.

For months, she”s been trying to capture one last female stray, but so far hasn”t been able to entice her into a humane trap. “I won”t give up,” she said last week.

———

Shelters take stray cats

* Butte Humane Society: Stray cats found within Chico city limits may be taken for free to Butte Humane Society”s shelter, said Sarah Downs, feline services coordinator there.

There is a five-day period when staff wait to see if an owner will claim a cat, then it is evaluated for disease and fixed, if need be. If not claimed, the cat will be put up for adoption. Adult cats cost $55, kittens are $20, she said. The shelter, at 2579 Fair St., can be reached at 343-7917.

* Butte Humane Society Clinic: Butte Humane Society”s new Spay Neuter Clinic, at 587 County Drive, is open to the public for spay and neuter appointments. Costs for cats range from $35 to $85; for dogs, $25 to $85. For an appointment, call 345-3500.

* Northwest SPCA: Cats found in the county are taken to Northwest SPCA in Oroville. Stray or feral cats may be dropped off for free. To adopt a cat over six months of age is free; cats under 6 months are $25, according humane office Lorne Green. The shelter, at 2787 S. Fifth Ave., can be reached at 533-7636.

———

Volunteers are needed

PAWS of Chico came about six years ago with the idea that spaying or neutering animals is a humane way to reduce the numbers of unwanted animals in shelters and on the streets.

So far in 2010, 720 cats and dogs have been fixed because of PAWS assistance. Consumer co-pays are determined by their income.

Its executive director, Cynthia Gerrie, said it is a constant struggle to keep funding coming in to the organization.

Until recently, PAWS of Chico shared revenue with Chico Cat Coalition through proceeds from Paw Prints Thrift Boutique, 1346 Longfellow Ave. That will change this month as the thrift store restructures its nonprofit status.

“Currently PAWS is out of money for cats and dogs until a grant from PetCo arrives. I”m expecting it to be $10,000,” Gerrie said Nov. 9.

She said PAWS needs funding, volunteers who want to help educate the community about the benefits of spay and neuter, and a service organization whose members will be willing to fundraise for the group.